Northamptonshire are facing eight-point deduction after their Wantage Road pitch was reported to the England and Wales Cricket Board in an incident which overshadowed a fine century from Lancashire batsman Stuart Law.

Umpires David Shepherd and Mark Benson reported the playing surface to the ECB's pitch liaison officer after a morning session which saw Lancashire batsman Marcus North struck on the elbow by a Damien Wright delivery which rose up off a good length.

It is the second time in two years that cricket's governing body has been called to the ground because of a suspect pitch - the county being docked points in the final home game of 2003 against Worcestershire.

Despite the pitch taking centre stage, the game remains evenly poised thanks largely to Law's well-crafted 111 - the 71st century of his first-class career.

After a relatively lean season, Australian-born Law was forced to work hard for an innings that included 12 boundaries - but while he dug deep wickets kept tumbling at the other end.

Northants managed to add just seven to their overnight total before the excellent Dominic Cork had Brown caught by Mark Chilton for five.

However, Lancashire coach Mike Watkinson was forced to reshuffle his middle order after Mal Loye was taken ill with severe food poisoning.

And the visitors got off to the worst possible start in response to Northants' 289 - opener Mark Chilton trapped lbw by Damien Wright for nought in the third over.

Law joined the struggling Iain Sutcliffe at the crease with Lancashire teetering on 36 for two - but spinner Jason Brown had Sutcliffe adjudged lbw for a painstaking 19 in the last over before lunch.

The opener never looked settled and struggled to keep the score ticking over, registering just three scoring shots in his last 54 deliveries.

Sutcliffe's 96-ball stint was in stark contrast to the partnership between Law and fellow Australian Andrew Symonds after lunch, the pair putting on 64 in double-quick time.

But after Symonds had plundered seven boundaries off two overs from the unfortunate Brown, the Birmingham-born Australian was caught in the slips by Martin Love off Monty Panesar - 13 short of what would have been a thrilling half-century.

Loye, who eventually arrived at the crease with his side six wickets down, battled his way to an impressive 38 before he too was caught at slip - this time by Love off the bowling of Brown.

With Watkinson's side just 28 runs shy of the hosts' total, Law's 214-ball marathon came to an end when he was superbly caught at wide mid-on by Usman Afzaal to give Brown his fourth wicket of the innings.

With five overs left in the day, the umpires took the players off for bad light with Lancashire just seven runs short on first innings with two wickets remaining.